ORANGE, Calif. - Chapman University third baseman
Tristan Phillips and eight of his teammates have
been named to the Association of Division III Independents
All-Independent baseball team for 2009. The senior was honored as
Independent Player of the Year and Panthers' head coach Tom
Tereschuk was named Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive
season.
Phillips earned the award after leading Chapman with a .436
batting average and 60 RBI in 40 regular season games. He also had
eight home runs and 14 doubles and compiled a .952 fielding
percentage at third base. The senior's production numbers have been
some of the best in school history. His batting average currently
ranks second all-time in school history and only two players have
had more RBI in a single season. It's Phillips' second
All-Independent selection in his career.
Also named to the All-Independent first team were Chapman
pitchers Jordan Sigman and Wayde
Kitchens. Sigman, a sophomore, posted a 9-3 record to lead
the Panthers in victories with a 4.14 ERA and 54 strikeouts.
Meanwhile, the senior Kitchens was named to the first team for the
third consecutive year after an injury-shortened 6-1 mark, 2.19 ERA
and 71 strikeouts in 61.2 innings. He is among the NCAA Division
III leaders in ERA and strikeouts per nine innings.
Senior 1B Patrick Ohail (.350, 15 2Bs, 45 RBI,
.994 fielding pct.) was named to the All-Independent team for the
fourth time in his career. Another infielder, junior SS
Halston Barcelo (.370, 7 2Bs, 20 runs) and
sophomore OF John Semel (.435, 10 HR, 44 RBI, 19
SBs) were among the six Panthers selected to the first team.
The Panthers' leadoff man junior OF Ryan
Prechtl (.313, 48 runs, 10 SBs, 9 OF assists) and freshman
DH Ben Owens (.419, 3 HRs, 17 RBI) earned second
team honors and sophomore 2B Tyler Hadzinsky
(.340, 21 extra-base hits) was named to the All-Independent third
team. It was a first time selection for all three players, although
Hadzinsky earned All-Independent honors in soccer last fall and was
named Independent Goalkeeper of the Year.
Tereschuk guided the Panthers to their seventh consecutive NCAA
postseason with a record of 26-14 overall to earn Coach of the
Year. He has also been Division III West Region Coach of the Year
four straight years.
Chapman's nine selections were the most in the Association and
the school's highest number since 2005 when the Panthers had 10
players named to the All-Independent team.
The Association of Division III Independents consists of 17
Division III independent institutions that have joined together to
recognize student-athletes at independent institutions, and to
provide exempted postseason championship competition in nine sports
in 2008-09. The Association recognizes outstanding athletic
achievements of its student-athletes on a weekly, monthly and
annual basis. For more information about the Association of
Division III Independents is available at http://www.d3independents.org.
